“We want to decide how we are going to act politically in relation to the Senate, in how the dialogue with the House will be after Pacheco is signaled,” confirmed former Bill rapporteur, Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE).
Just over two months after the Chamber of Deputies sent the bill to the Federal Senate, former rapporteur Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE) made an attempt to move the bill. Last Thursday (28/4), he met with Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), at the official residence, to discuss the situation on the subject.
The meeting between parliamentarians generated news. Names for the rapporteurship were indicated, such as senators Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), Irajá Abreu (PSD-TO) or Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB). In addition, the president undertook to evaluate the matter to move the discussions forward and, according to Carreras, guaranteed that the project will not be shelved.
“I committed to evaluating the projects that deal with this matter, getting to know them. There is more than one project on this topic. I did not commit to a date to be set, which will depend on the maturity of the projects in the Senate,” he declared. Behind the scenes, there are comments that because it is an election year and it is a thorny issue, the president is in no hurry to include it on the agenda.
The pression on the procedure came from the business owners themselves that involve gaming. The sector started looking for the former rapporteur to resolve doubts regarding the next steps.
The fact that the project was approved after so long under discussion – it had been in the Chamber since 1991 – caused incredulity in the segment. The fear of businessmen became that with speculation around the bill, commercial activities would be discontinued or that they would lose business.
“As a rapporteur, I spent months, almost a whole semester talking to the sector in public hearings, dialoguing, looking for balance, studying how betting games work in the world, meeting with bench leaders. In other words, it was a historic work within Parliament. And obviously it's in our interest to get approval in the Senate. Today there are three thousand betting sites in the country. The big question is: who cares that gambling prevails illegally?”, asks the parliamentarian.
Regarding the wait for the vote, the former rapporteur admits that he expects it to take place until the first half of July, but that "it's okay to wait."
“The election year ends in October, then there is no vacation, there is November and December. I can't guarantee anything, but the election year has a deadline. I don't see a problem with being after the elections. I proposed to go to the senators' discussion meetings to talk about the report that is not only intended to control, but will be the safest regulation in the world,” explained Carreras.
Government
Another bill (186) with the same theme was being processed in the Senate. Authored by the Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), it passed through a special commission, but was rejected by the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJ). Since then, it has been waiting to be guided by the president of the Senate. “This subject depends very little on the current text of the project. It will be voted on from the moment they decide to play forward. It is more about defining a rapporteur,” claimed a Senate aide.
Even if one of the projects in the pipeline is authored by one of the government's allies, Bolsonaro has already expressed his opposition to the issue. “My position as Chief Executive is that gambling is not welcome in Brazil,” he said in January of this year.
The former government leader in the Senate, Eduardo Gomes (PL-TO), reported that no government guidance was sent and considers it an open topic in the House. “Some are divided on the content of the project, as I do not know in depth, there are others who are openly in favor of it and others against it. I don't see a strong discussion on the matter,” he said.
In the Senate, unlike the Chamber, the parliamentarians allied to the government are also against it. In debates, the leader of the acronym to which the president of the republic is affiliated, Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ), shows a fear about the efficiency of inspection, as well as a concern that businesses become an instrument for money laundering.
The confrontation, this time, will not only be with the evangelical bench, as occurred in the House vote. A 'Parliamentary Front for a Brazil without Gambling' was established on the initiative of Eduardo Girão (Podemos-CE). According to him, the adhesion number for the creation of the front represents the opposition that the House has in relation to the release of bets in casinos, bingo and jog do bicho.
The senator's expectation is that this year the project will not go ahead. “The image of the Senate is already too worn out in the eyes of the population to pay for something with no foot and no head. I think the minimum is to have sessions after the elections, because it is a topic that divides society, it is controversial,” he opined.
“Lobbying is strong everywhere in the halls of Congress. The issue is really the timing, it is wrong to put a business with a problem of unemployed people, hungry, inflation problem to put something to benefit a tiny sector, of tycoons,” completed Girão.
Despite the opposing opinions, Carreras believes he remains optimistic about the possibility of approving the project. “The biggest argument for approving gambling is that it exists in every segment on the street. Now, with the amount of online gambling and the connection with investment in advertising in Brazil, there is a need for regulation," he stressed.
"Secondly, we will have an increase in employment, in revenue. And Brazil has to be connected to the world. Of the G20 countries, only Brazil and Indonesia do not have legal gambling. Even Saudi Arabia authorized, two months ago, games betting. The activity is happening 24 hours a day,” he added.
Source: Correio Braziliense
